Art Restoration: The Culture, the Business, the Scandal

The book came exactly as described in a very timely fashion. No complaints. Thanks!

-- some time in the 1980s. At least, his work on the Sistine Chapel was murdered, the way Beck and Daley describe it. On a technical level, this book is outstanding. Beck starts with a few hard, historical facts. First is that fresco has two forms. "Fresco buono" embedded pigment in wet plaster; it was always rushed by the drying plaster and limited in color by plaster's harsh chemistry. "Freso secco" was paint with animal glue binder, painted over dry plaster or buone. It gave plenty of opportunity for layers of subtle, painterly effects and for use of fragile colors. The second historical fact is that plaster dries in minutes or hours, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took years. Beck offers volumes more historical data, but it's clear that a lot more than drying plaster went on. The so-called conservators of the Sistine Chapel insisted that the organic layer over the plaster was not Michelangelo's work. When they cleaned the ceiling, they scrubbed it down to raw plaster, the fresco buono. Any secco work literally went down the drain with the wash water. Beck argues, very convincingly, that all of the subtlety and all that made Michelangelo's work unique went with it. Beck offers many more examples of harsh, even destructive treatments of historical art treasures. That brings us to the book's second level, the social one. It opens the book with Beck under fire in four separate lawsuits in Italy. The case in point was his report of a disastrous treatment of a sculpture about which he had unique knowledge and insight. The plaintiff in all four cases was the conservator who had done the job, supposedly defending his personal honor, his profession, and perhaps all of Italy against any slight by a mere expert. If it weren't for the facts laid out, this would look like some weird conspiracy theory. As it is, Beck (and now artwatchinternational.org) is a voice that speaks for paintings and sculptures that can not speak for themselves, and can not plead for themselves against the solvents and scalpels of the "cleaners." This book very clearly describes the threat to our legacy of artworks, and the wall of silence around those who present the threat. It is chilling. //wiredweird

I bought this book based on the recommendation of a friend who was taking a course in which it was mentioned. She knew of my interest in art and thought I might enjoy the book, and I certainly did!Beck opened up new vistas to me, of which I had little knowledge. He writes of the art and the politics of restoring great works of art, and of the options which should be considered before restoration is done. His opinion is that, many times, the restoration destroys the original painting, for all intents and purposes. An example he gives is what happens to the halos in paintings. We have all seen paintings with halos over certain figures. In the old original paintings, these halos are seen as airy and light, almost ray-like. When restored, Beck compares them to heavy golden plates sitting atop the heads of the figures in the painting.Upon finishing this book, I realized that it left me with as many questions as it answered regarding the need for and methods of restoring great works of art. I also realized that there are as many differing opinions on this topic as there are museums. It seems that the best course in some instances might be no restoration at all. Although I now feel almost more confused about the topic than when I started the book, I will always have an interest in reading about it.I find it interesting to visit the Art Watch International home page (which Beck founded) to be brought up to date on current restoration proposals. Some of the goals of this group, as outlined in its mission statement are "TO ACT as a watchdog organization in the arena of cultural policy, protecting works of art and the public interest from vested private and institutional interests.  TO SERVE as an international advocate for the conservation and stewardship of historically significant works of art and cultural monuments.  TO PROMOTE an open exchange of ideas and information on the full range of practices in the field of conservation, restoration and international stewardship of important cultural artifacts."

James Beck's Book Art Restortaion:The Culture, The Business, The Scandal, gives all those interested an incite into the world of preserving the treasures of the arts masters. He demonstrates through arguement and photograph the havoc occuring among the world's most valued art accomplishments, and allows the laymen to see the politics and personal ambitions that penatrate into the field of art conservation. While his book is of course very much based on opinion, he is very astute at backing his opinion up with historical and scientifc fact. Beck uses this book as a ladder to launch his campaign to save the artistic masterpieces of the past as well as those which will need conserving in the future. Anyone who is interested in the processes of conserving or the preserving of powerful pieces of art should read this book, and become aware of the way in which our public treasures are being handled.